State of the Blain Address: Let’s talk about Scheduling, Humans! (It’s a Thursday, for those of you who need a reminder. Like the female.)

Dear humans,

As most of you are aware, the female has a somewhat meticulous approach to how she handles her scheduling. She needs to write certain books to survive: see Magical Romantic Comedies (with a body count.) Readers buy what they want to read, and that is her top selling series.

The Royal States series is quickly catching up, which is a fantastic thing. It gives the female variety, all of her eggs aren’t in one basket, and she really loves the Royal States series. Really loves it. While she also loves the MRC series, RS has a lot of the types of stories she just can’t write as MRCs.

In short, all of them as passion projects.

MRCs are a mix of passion projects and ‘put food on the table’ projects. There are times she just doesn’t want to do them. (We’re looking at you, Flame Game. We’re looking at you SO hard.)

Don’t get us wrong. The female really does enjoy writing Bailey. But writing Bailey is also very hard at times. She loves the concepts and storylines for every Mag Rom Com she’s working on this year, but here’s the deep and dirty secret:

She’d rather be working on the passion projects waiting in line for their turn. It’s human nature. She has to work on these, otherwise she won’t get paid and that’s bad. (Very bad. She loves her job, but the money really does matter.)

People ultimately vote with their wallets.

The Mag Rom Com books sell.

Fortunately for her sanity, the Royal States novels also sell.

She is really, really hoping the Fox Witch World novels will sell. She’s gambling big time on those; she’s acquired the covers for the entire series already, and either has the bookings paid for or the covers in hand. It would suck if she could only work on one or two a year at most of those. (Spoiler alert: she’s invested five figures into just the covers, because she loves and believes in the project and world that much.)

But ultimately, the readers decide what she works on.

She crams in the passion projects as much as she absolutely can.

As it’s been a while, here’s a State of the Blain Address for you on the scheduling front. You’ll find what you can expect, when you can expect it, and if there will be any changes to the schedule. You’ll also find out where she is on each of the projects on the schedule, too!

It’s long, so please bear with us. We’re only including the Amazon links today because the female is under the weather (gender, allergies, bad weather… she’s fine. Just crampy.) but all books are available at all major vendors. We’re sorry if we send you on a scavenger hunt to your vendor of choice today.

Releasing April 28, 2020: The Run Around by Bernadette Franklin

Current Status: Done, done, done. Locked and loaded to all vendors. Print spread will be finished next week, and print editions should be in distribution in time for its release day. (Please praise the female. She worked so hard to be on time with this one… and she did it!!) Here’s the Amazon link for the book. This book is if you take the Mag Rom Com novels, strip out most of the violence, add in fluff, sprinkle in happiness, and add male prostitutes. As always, there is no sex on the page. Most of my fiction falls into the fulfillment fantasy category, and I’m a-okay with that. We all deserve feel-good reads, and that’s what I write. I (mostly) write books with the intent of making you happy you went on the adventure. This is one of the female’s absolute favorite books because it includes puppies, kittens, Juliette Carter, and two fun main characters that made writing a pure delight.

This is a passion project for the female. This is actually the book that started the Bernadette Franklin pen name. A friend, Caity, sent the female purple pens along with a challenge to write about a thoroughbride.

Challenge accepted, challenge won! The handwritten portion of the book was totally in purple, and we love it. (Thank you, Caity! We’ve… since murdered all of the purple pens on various books, but we still love you. And the pens.)

P.S.: The price will be rising to $5.99 late on its release day. If you want the preorder price, order it in the morning of its release or preorder the title. (The book is twice the length it was initially planned to be.)

Releasing May 12, 2020: Grave Humor by R.J. Blain

Current Status: The book has bitten, it will bite again, it might be rabid, and we’re pretty sure someone crossbred a hyena with a honey badger and got this damned thing. Don’t get me wrong, humans. The female loves the book. The book is not being easy to finish, and she’s been fighting with the final 10,000 words for a week already. She could have been done this damned thing last week, but no. The book decided to become feral.

We suspect the female just doesn’t want it to end. We’ll never know the truth.

Most of the book is with the editor, but the ending is driving her ape-shit bonkers. Right now, she’s estimating a ‘done, locked, and loaded’ date of April 25, 2020, which is too close for her comfort. (She was supposed to be done already. Whoops! We’re blaming COVID.)

This book includes Satin, his wife, shenanigans, a puppers, and a main character with a very skewed look about life… for a good reason. The universe can be a compassionate being. Sometimes.

And other times, it just likes kicking people in the teeth. This book serves as a reminder of that.

Hint: While you can technically read this as a stand alone, it will make a great deal more sense if you read Whatever for Hire first. And yes, some of the questions you had in Whatever for Hire are answered… if you squint and take your time thinking about it. I mean, the devil and his brothers are in the book. Do you really think they’re going to take it easy on you?

The universal rule still applies: angels are assholes.

Releasing June 16, 2020: The Dawn of Dae by R.J. Blain writing as Trillian Anderson

Status: The female… has gotten some of the book edited. Next week, the female will have most of the book edited and write in the new scenes. It’s hard to focus on this one because while she loves the story and the characters, very few others do, so this is truly a passion project. At current estimate, she is $5,508 in the hole on this series. Ouch. That includes the estimated first week release for this title.

That’s why Unawakened hasn’t been put into the line up yet. Like Dawn of Dae, it needs some editing to account for the new scenes and arc introduction being done in The Dawn of Dae. By some editing, we mean a lot of editing. That will cost, of course, more money… and until Dawn earns back some of the series’ keep, it will languish for a while. (There’s only so much the female can invest before a book has to earn something to get onto the roster.)

It may very well mean she’ll pick at Chameleon (the nickname of the third title in the set) over a few years, release Unawakened when she has some spare time, and that’s that.

Passion only goes so far, and when readers have no interest in a series, that’s okay. It’ll get done. Eventually. (Please don’t ask when Unawakened will be done–or Chameleon. We can’t promise anything at this point in time due to the financial elements of this series.) Bringing it back at all was a gamble. Right now, that gamble isn’t paying off.

But, while we’re here, here’s the foreword for Dawn of Dae:

Dear readers,

Once upon a time, these stories had been released under the pen name of Trillian Anderson. The books have been substantially edited, and in places, rewritten. There are new scenes. While the heart and soul of the story remains the same, I hope you enjoy the new take on an old adventure.

For those new to this world, you will notice a few things. First, you will notice the caste system and the naming schemes. When the Dae Portals series initially released, it didn’t do all that well. I recycled parts of the caste system and the name schemes for the Susan Copperfield books, as I loved some of the concepts. They were majorly changed, however.

The Royal States books founded their caste system on different ideals and concepts, which changed its nature.

The Dae Portals books share some similarities, but they quickly changed course.

Also, these are the books that ultimately led to the Magical Romantic Comedy (with a body count) series, as I learned just how much fun it was to let my hair down and write the fun, the zany, and the bizarre. So, I really hope that fans of both the Royal States books and the Magical Romantic Comedy (with a body count) books read this and find those little easter eggs that were recycled when I (rather foolishly) assumed I wouldn’t be able to find a way to make this series come back to life.

I was wrong. I hope you enjoy Alexa’s adventures with her wild and crazy friends.

~R.J. Blain

Its life is still haphazard, but it’ll get done eventually. That’s all the female can promise.

Releasing July 21, 2020: Taken: a Royal States Novel by Susan Copperfield

The preorder subtitle says novella. It’s basically a novel and meets the standards for a novel in several writing organizations. It will be adjusted to say novel. Depending on how the editing works out and the final word count goes, it may slide up to $4.99 in price. (Right now, it’s right on the threshold for $3.99/$4.99 pricing.)

So, if you want it for $3.99, preorder or order on opening day. The price will probably increase.

A new cover will be coming soon.

Release Date Unknown: Runaway: a Royal States Novel by Susan Copperfield

This is the next in the Royal States series, and it features Thomas of California as the love interest. There is no tentative release date yet for a few reasons.

First, the female wants time to breathe. She loves writing, but she works hard–too hard. As such, she’s trying to be kinder to herself. So, moving forward, preorders will be fewer and far between… or they will be of books that are mostly finished and just require editorial. There will be a few exceptions for ‘bigger’ titles next year.

This also means a few other changes will be underway, including the female focusing on finishing the unfinished projects. 2021 will likely suck financially for her as she struggles to finish the older series that just don’t sell all that well. Witch & Wolf is included in that.

Now, for Witch & Wolf fans:

Before you freak out and utterly panic that the series that are out are ending, she literally has a binder with the concepts of over thirty Witch & Wolf standalone novels. Should the series magically start being super productive and in demand, she can write more Witch & Wolf stories.

They just won’t be in series. They’ll all be one-shots.

Here is what that means in terms of scheduling.

December 2020 has two Witch & Wolf novels. If the female cannot handle the workload, Wild Wolf may be delayed until January 2020. No biggie, probably won’t happen, but she has made that her attack plan if the workload is too much for her to handle. It helped her anxiety significantly making this choice.

December 2021 will have two more Witch & Wolf novels. The female hates herself and deserves to suffer, obviously. This will conclude the main series.

Sometime along the way, there will be a second Dustin Walker anthology. It is entitled Witch Wolf. It will include short stories, novellas, and possibly even a novel. It will likely be priced $9.99, and that will be a bargain for what you’re getting in it. This time, there will not be a Mag Rom Com tossed in. Sorry. The female has not started it yet and makes no promises on the date.

Once these stories are finished, the Witch & Wolf series will be officially over. However, The Case Files of Karma Johnson is a thing. It will include the Jake and Karma stories from the first Dustin Walker anthology. It will also include side stories from both Karma and License to Kill. They’re meant for fun glimpses at these two characters. It will have a lot of glimpses of Jake’s side of the story from License to Kill.

We feel they’ll offer a lot of insight on how so much could go so wrong.

This is a reminder that License to Kill is not a happy story, it was never intended to be a happy story, and while it does have a happily ever after, the characters go through hell getting there. If you’re expecting fluff, please don’t buy/read this book. You’re not getting fluff. You’re getting a lot of heartache on the way. You’re getting a novel where characters make a lot of poor choices, and they pay for them. Some poor choices were made for good reasons. Some weren’t. You’ll see when you read the book.

Don’t say we didn’t warn you, humans…

Releasing August 18ish 2020: Booked for Murder: Vigilante Magical Librarians #1

Current Status: Ahahahahaaa….

Hey, she has it started at least. That’s something, right? This book is a hard write, and it’s going to be an adventure when she’s working on it in earnest. Absolutely nothing has been easy about this book except the damned title and the concept! After that, the female just got bludgeoned with the stupid bat and has to fight for every word. But the cover is spectacular, and she loves the concept… Game on!

The female looked at the rest of her schedule for the year, has gone to the corner, and is rocking while crying pathetically. Uhm… it’s okay, female. You can do it. You already did the word count math. It’s not that bad. You write more than that for fun on a Saturday out of boredom in two hours. Calm yourself.

Please don’t mind the female, she’ll be okay.

Sooo, The Agents of the Royal States series…

The first book is titled The Vampire of Montana. There is no known release date yet. There are 11 or so confirmed books being done in this series. Either the main character or the love interest is an RPS agent.

The female is not listening to requests for specific characters to be featured. Please, daydream all you want about it, but she already has the ideas she’s planning to use. She may poll in the future for specific agents to get stories, but the agents need to fit specific criteria to have a novel made about them.

No, Geoff does not meet the requirements. We all love Geoff. The female loves Geoff. Geoff’s romance with his wife is not novel material. Geoff is, has been, and always will be careful to keep his wife uninvolved in serious RPS matters… and he has done a wonderful job of it over his life.

The Rat Guy, on the other hand… he’s a candidate. Unfortunately for you bastards, the female has already picked his princess, so he doesn’t get an Agents of the Royal States novel. He might get a standard Royal States novel, though.

Not anytime soon, so don’t ask when. Down! Sit! Behave!

And since the female is being generous, here’s the lineup of Royal States stories for your anticipation:

Runaway (Thomas of California), The Prince of New York (Ian of New York), and New Waters (Deidre of Texas.)

Something all three of these books share: the royalty are not the lead characters.

The Prince of New York and New Waters will feature the love interests (AKA Ian and Deidre) on their covers because they’re so integral to the books. Runaway features the main character.

You shall see the covers sooner than later. But they’re not ready yet.

And yes, now most certainly is the time to have a freakout over why Deidre has a novel.

We are so not sorry, humans.

It’s better this way, Deidre. Trust us. (Actually, don’t trust the female. She’s mean.)

I am now going to hap. Enjoy this picture of me napping.